Involving 307 primarily Hispanic children with varying levels of English and Spanish language proficiency and 9 teacher-aide teams from grades 2-4 bilingual classrooms in schools located in 5 districts in the San Jose (California) area, the study examined whether classroom social status affected the frequency of study interaction and whether interaction, in turn, affected the amount of learning in a specific curriculum. Expectation States Theory analyzed the sources of status and their effects on peer interaction at learning centers in an ongoing classroom setting. A path model illustrated how classroom peer interaction can simultaneously have positive and negative effects on learning. The bilingual curriculum, designed to teach thinking skills, used math and science concepts and featured multiple learning centers each with different materials and activities. For one hour per day for 15 weeks, children were required to complete each learning center and to fill out accompanying worksheets. Instructions in English, Spanish, and pictographs were available with each learning center. Data were obtained from behavioral observations, questionnaires, and test scores. Findings indicated children with higher social status were more likely to talk and work together than children of lower social status; and the more children talked and worked together, the more they learned from the curriculum. (NQA)